East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Reaches New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $107.63 and last traded at $107.61, with a volume of 17631 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $106.72.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EWBC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $91.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.25.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $88.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $81.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $14.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.27.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $641.80 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 24.96% and a return on equity of 16.07%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.02 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th will be given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 4th. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.78%.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.50, for a total value of $985,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 117,193 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,543,510.50. This represents a 7.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.61, for a total value of $1,279,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 45,403 shares in the company, valued at $4,840,413.83. The trade was a 20.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 25,969 shares of company stock valued at $2,625,276. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,882,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $652,223,000 after buying an additional 136,528 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors bought a new stake in East West Bancorp during the first quarter worth $338,142,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 2.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,231,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $350,152,000 after buying an additional 96,729 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 7.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,822,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $133,480,000 after buying an additional 118,658 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 7.3% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,804,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $149,287,000 after buying an additional 123,376 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About East West Bancorp

East West Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for East West Bank that provides a range of personal and commercial banking services to businesses and individuals in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Consumer and Business Banking, Commercial Banking, and Other.